As LeeFest returns for its tenth birthday bigger than ever before at a secret new location in Kent this summer, we asked founder Lee Denny about some of the big names that got their big breaks at the festival which started out as a small affair in his back garden in Beckenham.

Bastille (2012)

The south London band performed at LeeFest in 2012, a year before their debut album Bad Blood was released and have gone on to Brit Award-winning stardom. The album sold over five million copies in the US and 2.5 million here.

Lee said the LeeFest team discovered the band the band when they were starting out at university. He said: “I think it was actually a Leeds connection. A few of the team went to Leeds Uni and got to know the guys from Bastille at Leeds Uni and the conversation started as people passed around music.”

Years and Years (2014)

The London-based three-piece played LeeFest in 2014 at a time when they were still a largely undiscovered gem.

That same year they signed a record deal with Polydor and have had a number one album (Communion) and single (King), were nominated for a Critics’ Choice Brit Award and were the winners of the BBC’s Sound of 2015 award.

London Grammar (2013)

Vocalist Hannah Reid and guitarist Dan Rothman began collaborating after they met at Nottingham University, which is where they cropped up on Lee’s radar.

He said: “I was at Nottingham University with the guys from London Grammar and I didn’t actually know them.

“As I was leaving uni, that’s when they started putting tracks online and I just started hearing about them from being around there. I started following these tracks online and they started producing some really cool videos and things.”

Their debut album If You Wait charted at number two and has sold more than 300,000 copies.

Jack Garratt (2014)

The singer-songwriter only just released his debut album Phase in February but was booked for LeeFest back in 2014, shortly before releasing his first EP.

He was picked out by one of Lee’s close friends. Lee said: “That was actually Rich Legate from our team who can take the credit for that one. He booked him. I think he saw him playing a show, but in a very different format to what he does now.”

Garratt was this year’s Critic’s Choice Brit Award winner as well as the winner of the BBC Sound of 2016 and made MTV’s Brand New 2016 shortlist.

Young Fathers (2014)

The Scottish hip hop/pop group played LeeFest in 2014, the same year they exploded onto the music scene with their Mercury Prize winning album, Dead.

Clean Bandit (2013)

A year before their breakthrough Grammy Award-winning single Rather Be dominated the airwaves for what seemed like an eternity, the five-piece from Cambridge were on stage at LeeFest.

Public Service Broadcasting (2012 and 2013)

Public Service Broadcasting may not be the biggest name on the list but the art-rockers ascent stands out in Lee’s mind as one of the most impressive.

He said: “They were particularly amazing. They applied through an application for one year and we gave them their first ever live gig at the festival.

“They asked us for a small TV screen at the front of the stage to play some visuals. There was a tiny 13-inch television screen.

“It was either the year after or the year after that and they were back headlining one of the stages and they had one of the most ridiclously big screens.

“There was this amazing growth from a small television set that they put at the front of the stage to a full-on AV show with loads of screens everywhere.

“Watching a band take off like that is quite cool.”

LeeFest presents The Neverland is at a secret location in Kent from July 28 to 30. Go to leefest.org

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